Queensland: Fluoride scaremongering must stop: doctors

DOCTORS and dentists say scaremongering about fluoride in water must stop.

The Australian Dental Association has condemned the Queensland government’s decision to let councils decide if fluoride should be added to their water supplies.

Some have already opted to dump it and dentists say it will put the oral health of entire communities at risk.

Australian Dental Association president Dr Karin Alexander says the decision should not rest with “ill-informed” local councils.

“The stupidity has to stop,” she said in a statement.

“The public purse will ultimately have to pay for this decision when levels of dental disease and dental decay start to massively increase.”

Australian Medical Association president Dr Steve Hambleton says adding fluoride to water is one of the most cost-effective health investments governments can make.

“We want to look after our bodies, let’s start with the front door,” he told AAP.

Premier Campbell Newman has said he personally supports fluoridation, but the issue is about restoring councils’ right to decide.

But it’s clear some in his Liberal National Party government believe fluoride is a health risk.

Government MP Jason Woodforth this week said he’d rather spend the rest of his life taking the banned performance-enhancing substance IGF-1 than drink fluoridated water.

But the state’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young says the amount of fluoride permitted for use in Queensland drinking water poses no risk to human health, and is highly effective at reducing tooth decay.